


breaking bread

by tealady19



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Cooking, Gay Disaster Shiro (Voltron), M/M, Minor Allura/Lance (Voltron), Post-Season/Series 07, Team as Family, a little bit of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22103542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tealady19/pseuds/tealady19
Summary: Keith’s been foraging in the desert, Hunk realises.  He can feel his whole face start to light up and he can’t (won’t) stop it.  He lives for this.--Hunk's been asking the Paladins about their favourite meals on Earth before they leave again, doing his best to recreate them at Paladin dinners.  Keith's got a couple of unusual ideas.
Relationships: Hunk & Keith (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 28
Kudos: 213





	breaking bread

**Author's Note:**

> I've been foraging a couple of times in my life and it's always so satisfying to come home and cook with the things you've found. That being said, please! Be careful when foraging, and make sure to take guidebooks or go with an experienced person.
> 
> I did a lot of research into Arizona's climate/what you can forage down there, but also please note that I've never personally been there and all my limited foraging experience has been in decidedly more forested areas. So I apologise if I get some things wrong! 
> 
> This is mostly about Hunk and Keith, since I'm weak for friendship fics, but there's enough Sheith that I thought it warranted a tag, even if it's not the focus today.

Keith’s been out of the hospital for long enough now that he’s comfortable moving around on his own, and is almost back to training full time. He hangs out with the paladins during their limited down time and has yet to teach the wolf to fetch, but the larger creature has taken to zapping around after Bae-Bae and watching curiously as the Holt’s dog completes some trick or other. Hunk’s been accosting them one at a time to help prepare some long-forgotten favourites for paladin dinners, as often as possible. He’s gone as far as to make his own peanut butter to make Pidge peanut butter cookies, and the look on Shiro’s face when he first put Hunk’s mac and cheese in his mouth almost had everyone in tears, he looked so happy.

Last week Keith even got the opportunity to steal Shiro away for a hoverbike race, though most of the time they were just enjoying each other’s company rather than actually competing. The terrain has changed enough in the time that they were away that they’d spent some extra time figuring out the best cliffs for diving off of, as well as the best ones for sunset watching. After everything they've been through in space, it was surprisingly grounding for Keith to sit on a rock ledge pressed up against this incredible man and watch the darkening sky pass into a starfield.

This time he's returning again to the desert by hoverbike, but accompanied by the wolf instead of Shiro. He's large enough now to keep up without needing to resort to teleporting ahead - not that it stops him.

Keith takes the well-worn paths out of the Garrison, terrain slowly becoming less and less travelled as he heads out towards the remnants of his dad’s cabin. The wolf bounds and zaps ahead, making a challenge for Keith to keep up with him, but they make it out to the property as the sun is cresting to midday. He parks alongside the building, easing off the bike and petting down the wolf’s snout as he noses into his palm, probably sensing the unease at being at this place again. Keith can’t always tell how much of the memories they’d seen on the space whale the wolf had understood, but he could tell that this place was familiar, and wasn’t necessarily the source of happy memories.

He isn’t sure whether to be surprised or not that the place is still standing. It wouldn’t make sense for the Galra to target such a remote area, but at the same time their recent battles in the desert had torn up vast areas of land. The idea that a little place like this could have survived against all those odds - Keith isn’t sure what to make of it.

The porch is a little tilted and the curtains look sun-bleached in the window, but then they had looked that way when he’d left - four years ago? A peek into the attached shed shows his old hoverbike still under the sheet as he’d left it before the five of them went searching for the Blue Lion. Spotting the flash of red paint under the tarp inside tightens something in his belly - he’ll have to come back out and see how well it runs. For now the Garrison one would do.

Keith gets the lunch he’d grabbed out of the commissary this morning out of the bags on the back of his bike, along with the one map he’d managed to find of this area of the desert that wasn’t digital. There was a pretty good chance that the old paper map wasn’t very accurate any more, but he’d learned to read these old versions with his dad at a young age. They'd both found them more practical than trying to squint at a tiny datapad screen at full brightness, and then having them run out of battery power halfway through a hike.

The inside of the cabin, once he manages to get the door unlocked and open, is covered in a thick layer of dust that has the wolf sneezing six times in quick succession as he pads inside. Keith starts to laugh at him but is caught up in his own sneezing fit not too long after, and gets a particularly smug look from the wolf. He just rolls his eyes.

“We’ll keep the doors open to try to get rid of the dust, but it’s better to be inside at this time. We’ll head out in a few hours once the day’s a little cooler. We’ve got time.” Keith checks over his shoulder as he speaks, watching the wolf give him an eye, and then purposefully flop onto his side on the floor by the old futon, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

Keith coughs a few times, trying to wave away the worst of it with his hand, and then ties a bandana around his nose and mouth, and sets about looking for a broom.

\--

By midafternoon, Keith’s gathering up his things again, lunch shared with the wolf and slow midday naps taken. There are still some things in the cabin that he used to take with him when he was mapping the caverns for Blue Lion hieroglyphics, and he finds a few old canvas bags and chocolate protein bars, miraculously still within their best before date. He throws them into the storage of the bike alongside a few water bottles, and heads out in a familiar direction, wolf trotting along at his side.

The Galra invasion and subsequent liberation battle may have changed a lot of the landscape, but there are still a few familiar trails leading out into the desert. Keith takes the one he remembers finding the most prickly pear on first.

He sees the ripe red fruits before he sees the rest of the plant, but it’s only about fifteen minutes down the path before he’s pulling up next to a large smattering of plants. The cacti grow close to the ground but there's a wide field of them extending around a small, sheer hill. Keith parks the bike off to the side where there's space, and pulls out the map to mark the spot before he swings himself down. The wolf is looking at the plants curiously, ears perked.

“It looks like we're right on time for them- and, oh,” he looks up from his map, taking in his surroundings. “There's more than I thought.”

Keith keeps a running commentary of what they're looking at, something he had started to do as soon as Keith had got the slightest idea that the wolf could understand him when the wolf was still a pup. Though not having a lot of choice on the space whale, Keith had found that talking to the wolf had been far, far easier to get used to and build a friendship than with any other sentient person he’d met.

“There's a lot here, so we can get a bunch of fruits. I asked Hunk to see if he could find some lemons before we left, but maybe we can also make some dessert or something..” He trails off, turning away to shake out one of the canvas bags. A flash of tail has him whipping back around.

“Hey! Bud--- wait, careful!” Keith manages to get an arm around the wolf’s neck and tug him sharply back before he can close his teeth around the ripe fruit. The wolf turns and gives him a marginally affronted look, but Keith smooths a hand down the side of his snout. “Pretty sure neither of us want to be pulling spines out of your mouth.”

Keith loosens his arm from the wolf’s neck, but balances himself with one hand in his ruff as he’s overcome with a particular memory of reaching for one of those fruits himself, very small, and being yanked back by his dad. _Make sure you don’t ever pick them without gloves on,_ he’d said, kneeling in front of Keith and holding both of the boy’s small hands in his, _or come find me and I’ll get them._ Keith had looked up at him, eyes wide and trusting. His dad had made lemonade with them that evening, the red pulp swirling to a pinkish colour as he stirred. It left Keith’s face puckered up at the sourness and his dad laughing.

He smiles softly as he nudges the wolf’s face away from the spines and pulls on the thick leather gloves he’s stashed in his pocket before they left. “I'll cut one up so we can try it, but the others we'll save for Hunk,” he says, giving the wolf a pat. He huffs, but sticks close to Keith’s side as he carefully picks the fruits, removing the spines with a small knife, and drops them into one of the canvas bags. He peels one, slicing to share with the wolf after they’ve got enough.

With a cocked head, the wolf takes the fruit delicately between his teeth. Keith can’t tell quite what he thinks about it, but after a bit he does swallow it. Laughing, he bites into his own slice, swallowing past all the seeds and savouring the clean, sweet taste.

With the bag of fruits secured into the back of the hoverbike, they head off a little further into the desert, to see what else they can bring back.

\-- --

Hunk finds himself in the kitchens a little earlier than he’d anticipated he would, but, to be fair, he’s had way more luck than he thought he would at the market earlier. He’s seriously loving this plan of cooking up all the paladin’s favourite foods with them - food can tell you so much about a person, you know? What they like, what they don’t like, how they grew up - _where_ they grew up, it’s like you connect on a personal level without needing words - ugh, he loves it.

It’s Keith’s turn tonight, and Hunk will admit that he’s been looking forward to this for a while. He’s known Lance’s favourite foods for years, and Pidge has been pretty easy to figure out. Even Shiro has helped him out in the kitchen a few times, when Hunk can keep him on task he’s actually pretty good. It’s when he gets distracted that things tend to burn, but he’s always precise with mixing and chopping ingredients. Keith, however, has been a little bit of a mystery: his Galra taste buds are slightly different than the rest of the paladins, but he’s always willing to try whatever Hunk’s made. He’s never really made any requests or signalled any favourites, so having him ask for something, even as innocuous as lemons, is really, really exciting.

He’s picked up some other staples, some bread and onions and garlic, and checked on his dry goods store. It feels so good to be using earth spices again, he thinks as he sets down some bags in the kitchen, spotting Shiro and Allura sitting at the far table with tea cups and datapads. He’d introduced her to sencha as soon as he could get his hands on some, and the Japanese green tea has quickly become one of her favourites. She says it reminds her of something from Altea, a similar taste. She and Shiro have taken to afternoon tea breaks to go over notes as often as they can, spending time together planning or chatting.

It’s good to see Shiro enjoying himself with their friends, especially when he acts more like his age and he and Allura get mischievous glints in their eyes. Hunk’s noticed these things. And twenty-six isn’t really that old - maybe it seemed that way in the early days on the castle, but after spending so many years in close quarters, he’s seen glimpses of what their favourite Captain is like underneath his professional mask.

At any rate, it’s been about a half hour since Hunk’s busied himself with his own cup of tea (an Olkari blend that some of the rebels had brought back, it’s unreal) and brainstorming some ideas. Maybe lemon squares? Or, ooh, a tart lemon pasta, he’s dug out an old mechanical pasta maker from storage somewhere, they can make their own linguine. Maybe they can _flavour_ the linguine. Or-!

“Hey Hunk,” a voice comes from behind him. It’s Keith, finally showing up from wherever he was and as Hunk turns he notices: the hard leather riding boots and tight jeans, leather jacket unzipped over a loose tank, hair pulled back into a ponytail and aviator sunglasses pushing his bangs back where they’re perched on his head. He’s got a thin sheen of sweat and slightly sunburnt cheeks, and a light coating of red dust all over. He’s holding a canvas bag in one gloved hand and another is slung over his back.

It’s a look.

Hunk think he hears choking behind him, but one of the last things he needs to see right now is their eldest paladin and supposed role model completely lose it. He can pick out Allura whisper laughing in Shiro’s direction and leaves it alone.

“Hey bud,” Hunk keeps his attention on the disaster in front of him, not the bigger disaster behind. Thankfully Keith hasn’t noticed Shiro’s inability to breathe, but he gives an unconscious sharp grin that makes Allura snort at whatever Shiro’s doing in the background. Hunk’s so glad the other paladins aren’t here yet. He doesn’t need this. He just wants to cook. “I, uh, wasn’t sure if you were going to make it. I got some lemons, like you asked? But, I wasn’t sure what else you wanted to do so I just got a bunch of other things.”

Keith makes his way over to the countertop Hunk is standing next to, removing his sunglasses and shaking his bangs out, wincing a bit as it sends sand in all directions. Shiro’s set his cup down and spread his hands flat on the table, Hunk can’t help but notice. So has Allura, but it looks like the reasons they can’t keep it together are _vastly_ different.

“Sorry,” Keith says, and draws Hunk’s attention back to him. “I should probably at least wash my hands before we get started. It’s a bit dirty getting all this stuff.” He drops his canvas bags on the counter to punctuate his point. Moving quickly to the sink, he takes his jacket off and rinses his arms off up to his elbows. Turning to continue facing Keith as he washes puts the other two paladins in the room back into Hunk’s line of sight, and- yep, Shiro’s face is so red he can see it through his pale hair and- hm. That’s actually kind of cute.

Allura is laughing silently so hard she’s crying, but she’s also moved one hand on Shiro’s arm and looks pretty charmed by his expression too. She reaches up to close his open mouth with one finger under his chin. Keith, predictably, doesn’t notice any of this. Hands clean, he reaches for a towel, and finally sees the others in the room.

“Oh, hey Shiro, Allura.”

Shiro is still rebooting, by the looks of it, but Allura manages to pull herself together enough to greet Keith back. “Hello, Keith. It looks like you had an- enjoyable time this afternoon?”

“Oh, yeah, I took a hoverbike and the wolf out to my dad’s old place and we went into the desert from there. It was pretty good.” He finishes drying his hands and cocks his head. “You okay, Shiro?”

Shiro opens his mouth. For a terrifying moment, Hunk thinks he’s going to witness to the most awkward confession in the history of awkward confessions, but Shiro just manages to say, “yeah, sorry, tea went down the wrong way.” He coughs for effect. Keith seems to buy it, but he’s never not believed everything Shiro’s ever said, as far as Hunk can tell. “We were actually just getting ready to go.”

Keith’s face visibly falls. “You didn’t- wanna stay?” He looks forlorn; Hunk almost reaches out to comfort him, but stops when he realises what he’s actually doing.

Shiro shakes his head, “no, Allura and I don’t want to get in your way. This is supposed to be about you and Hunk right now.” His smile actually seems to reassure Keith. Allura grabs their datapads in the background, since it’s pretty obvious that Shiro only has eyes for one thing right now.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, Keith,” wow, that look is so sappy it should be illegal. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise.” Shiro rests his hand on Keith’s shoulder and Keith beams at him. Shiro looks starstruck. Allura looks incredulous. Hunk wants to pull out all his hair.

“Okay,” Keith says, tucking a stray tendril of hair behind his ear. Shiro follows it with his eyes. Hunk and Allura eye him in turn. “I’ll see you at dinner then?”

“Yeah,” Shiro breathes. Allura takes his arm, ready to literally drag him away from this incredibly painful conversation. Hunk is so grateful for her. “See you then.”

Keith smiles at him the whole time he’s leaving the room. The door shuts and he turns to Hunk like nothing out of the ordinary has ever happened. “So what do you need me to help you with?”

Hunk stares at him. Keith is their leader and he’s actually pretty great at it and is confident in lots of battle situations. He’s even getting better at talking to people. As much as he wants to, Hunk is not Lance and he won’t call his friend out on this. Today, anyways. “It’s okay, bud. Show me what you got here.”

What he’s got turns out to be bags full of things that Hunk has tried.. grocery store variants of some of them. Some things he recognises, and then Keith carefully pulls a bundle of sandy leaves out of one bag and drops them into a large bowl, and Hunk is sure these are just weeds. Piles of weeds and roots of something and they’re all covered in dirt?

Keith’s been foraging in the desert, Hunk realises. He can feel his whole face start to light up and he can’t ( _won’t_ ) stop it. He lives for this.

Keith can see his face, and he ducks his head to hide his own smile behind his bangs. “I, uh, thought, since, y’know, you wanted to know favourites and stuff we could, um, make some stuff from when I was a kid? My dad, uh, used to take me out in the desert and see what we could find, ‘specially this time of year ‘cause the prickly pear’s in season? And I-oh!” he cuts himself off in a surprised squeak when Hunk throws his arms around him and pulls him into a big hug.

“Oh man,” Hunk squeezes a little tighter when he feels Keith tentatively start to return the hug. “Oh man, this is the best, this is exactly what I was hoping for!” He pulls back to look Keith in the eye. “Thanks for sharing this with me.” Keith’s face is definitely red now, and Hunk definitely has desert dust all down his front, but he’s too excited to care. They have to wash up all the leaves and roots anyways, what’s a little more authenticity?

“You’re welcome,” Keith smiles, small and pleased. “It was actually really nice to spend the day in the desert, and I’m kind of excited to show you guys some things too.”

Wow, okay. So, maybe Hunk can understand Shiro’s reactions to this guy. Sometimes. Just a bit.

“So I wasn’t able to find a whole lot, since it’s out of season for some things, and it’s always unpredictable what you’re going to get, you know? But I got some desert dandelion,” he points to the sand-filled bowl of leaves and roots, the odd yellow flower poking out now that Hunk is looking closely, “and prickly pear fruits.” These are also dusty, having been underneath the dandelion in one bag, but there are quite a number of small red fruits. Hunk has tried one once, he thinks, but never this fresh.

“And then this is stinging nettle,” Keith gestures to the other, unopened canvas bag on the counter. “We’ll have to handle them with thick gloves or tongs or something since we don’t want to touch them. Because.. Stinging. They, uh, they do that.”

Hunk folds his hands, considering the bounty Keith has brought him. “What do you recommend? I haven’t really tried most of these things before. And, I definitely want to make sure that you’re gonna enjoy it.”

Keith pulls a stool closer with one foot, and hops on to sit down. “It wasn’t ever anything special. We put nettles in soup sometimes, because it was easy. I think a couple of times he made some pasta and tried to saute them.. I guess I used to make grossed out faces or something when he did that because he used to laugh so loud.” He grins wryly, lips twisting up in one corner at the memory. “If you got some long noodles or something we can maybe use them? I’m sure you can come up with something a little more appetising than massive soggy leaves and three pieces of spaghetti.”

Keith’s naturally dry humour sparks a surprised laugh out of Hunk, like it usually does. The guy is surprisingly funny, but only when you least expect it.

“I’m definitely sure we can improve on your dad’s recipe, but let me know if you feel nostalgic for three spaghetti strings and I’ll make sure to serve that to Lance first.” Hunk’s answering grin has Keith smothering a laugh into his own hand. He may not know exactly why Lance had latched on to Keith as his rival all those years ago but he does know, as his best friend, how exquisite Lance’s reactions are when teased.

“Okay!” Hunk rubs his hands together, eager to get started. “We’re definitely gonna do pasta with those nettles. I’ve got lemons and garlic and onion, and we can throw in some chickpeas for a bit of protein. And then, hmm. Do you want to use the dandelion for a starter salad?”

Keith reaches for the bowl of dandelion, eyeing the amount. “We can do that. What would you put with it?”

“I’ve got some carrots and some radishes, and then this _kalipura_ which is kind of like an alien cucumber? I guess? It’s watery but tastes more floral than savory.. It could work with dandelion though. And maybe some raspberries if I can get Mrs Holt to spare me some from her gardens.” Hunk purses his lips a moment, examining what is on the table. “Or we can use the prickly pear in the salad. Unless you have another idea for them?”

Keith picks up one of the dozens of small fruits he’s brought back, turning it over in his hand. “My dad used to make lemonade with them,” is the shy answer. He looks like he’s reliving a memory as his face goes soft, and Hunk doesn’t want to knock him out of it. He reaches for some bowls and colanders, getting ready to clean their veggies.

“I’m not sure what to do for a dessert, though,” Keith says as he moves to help Hunk get started. “I’m not a big fan of sweets, but Shiro is.” He takes the bag of stinging nettle to the sink, dumping the sandy leaves into a large strainer and turning on the water to rinse them.

“Nah, I’ve got some ideas, don’t worry bud.” Hunk hands him a pair of tongs, clicking them twice as Keith snorts out a laugh. “How about: I get started on making the pasta noodles, and you get working on the lemonade so it has time to chill in the fridge? Then we can throw everything together - it shouldn’t take too long.”

“Thanks, Hunk,” Keith replies, smiling a little wider than usual. “This is actually pretty fun.”

“ _Exactly._ ” Hunk points a spoon at him from where he’s weighing out flour for the pasta. “It’s so fun. I love learning this stuff about you guys. And we’re gonna knock everyone’s socks off at dinner with how good it is.”

Keith laughs in return, just a little, but it’s one of the most genuine sounds Hunk’s heard out of him in a long time.

\--

“ _You guys,_ ” Hunk greets Romelle and Coran as he enters the dining room with plates. They’re setting the table for nine since Krolia is on planet at the moment, and there’s a particularly kingly set up for the wolf beside them on the floor. Hunk still thinks he looks like a Kosmo, but Keith asked him again not to call him that, and Hunk can only resist Keith’s puppy eyes for so long. It looks like it’s true, what they say about dogs and their owners..

Romelle sets down the two glasses in her hands, perking up at Hunk’s arrival. “Hello! I’ve heard you’re cooking with Keith tonight so I’m very excited.” Coran echoes her enthusiasm as Hunk sets the plates on the table for them to pass around. The others should be arriving any minute now, and Hunk is so ready to show off this meal.

“You should be! It’s gonna be so good, man, I can’t even wait. I don’t want to spoil any surprises, but, wow. If you don’t cry while you’re eating this, I’ll be offended.” Hunk shakes a finger as the two Alteans boom out laughter. Lance and Pidge are walking through the door as Hunk is leaving to get the water pitchers, and he can see Krolia, Shiro, and Allura rounding the corner in the hallway outside as well.

Keith is stirring the three large pitchers of pinky-red lemonade as he steps back into the kitchen for the water. The pasta just needs to be quickly sautéed, since it will only take about five minutes until it’s ready, so he makes the executive decision to send Keith out of the kitchen and introduce everyone to tonight’s dinner.

Hunk’s got two serving platters filled with linguine in his hands as he steps into the dining room while Keith is filling Krolia’s glass with prickly pear lemonade. “It’s dad’s recipe,” he says, a little shyly, and Krolia bites her lips before taking a sip.

She looks at it for a long while afterwards before saying, “it tastes exactly like I remember.” Keith’s smile is soft as she says it, and the others are soon clamouring to taste it. Krolia discretely wipes at her eyes while Keith is occupied filling glasses, but Hunk spots Coran pat her hand and the two adults exchange a smile.

Lance is pouring for Allura and making the goopiest eyes at her; Hunk can’t believe that after watching Shiro make exactly the same expression at Keith, she’s blushing when Lance does it. Pidge is digging into the dandelion salad with fervour, and has three pieces of bread piled on her plate as well, not one to say no to carbs when she can.

Keith is explaining the pasta that they’d made to Shiro as he holds the platter for their Captain to serve both of them. He looks inordinately pleased that everything at dinner tonight is vegan, but Hunk scoffs. Like it’s difficult to make delicious food that everyone can eat.

Hunk sits down next to Romelle, who holds out the pitcher of prickly pear lemonade with a raised eyebrow. She pours him a large glass at Hunk’s insistence, and they serve themselves pasta before it’s all gone. The sharp combination of lemon and garlic, with a good helping of cracked black pepper and the earthiness of the nettle has Hunk humming, satisfied, into his first bite.

“Oh, man, Hunk, my guy,” Lance is talking through his mouthful of food, but no one can really fault him. “You’ve outdone yourself this time. It looks so simple, but, you know, this is so good.”

“Yes!” Coran pipes up, “I’ve never had something so flavourful, where did you get the ideas?”

“You guys know it’s Keith’s day! He went foraging in the desert and told me about some of the things his dad used to make when he was a kid! We just built on it from there,” Hunk clapped his hands together, pleased.

He watches Shiro bump Keith’s shoulder as he starts to turn red, everyone’s stares on him. “It’s supposed to be like, childhood food and stuff, right? Not like my dad could make pasta like this, but we used to eat all kinds of stuff from the desert. I just thought I could share that with you guys while we’re still on earth.” He ducks his head as Krolia leans over to kiss his temple, face like a tomato. Shiro’s squeezing his hand on his other side, looking absolutely charmed.

Romelle looks wistful on his left as they all dig in, smiling off into the distance. Hunk nudges her knee under the table to catch her attention, and she shakes her head with a little laugh. “I was thinking that maybe I could teach you some recipes I used to make for Bandor. I’m not sure if we can get the ingredients, though.”

Hunk beams at her, “I’m sure we can, and you know I’d love to do that! I don’t know much about Altean cooking other than what I figured out on the castle. We can get Allura or Coran to pitch in if you want.”

Romelle smiles back at him, their family happy and chatting around the table. “I’d love that.”

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on twitter at [thimblee](https://twitter.com/thimblee) where I try to use social media and mostly fail, but I'm ready to talk about food and how much Hunk (and me) loves it.


End file.
